


On the Worship of Saints in Ravka

by KaelsMiscellany



Category: The Grisha Trilogy - Leigh Bardugo
Genre: F/M, Future Fic, Gen, Saints, Spoilers!, Worship, kind of an odd duck, no actual paring but still tagging it as Alarkling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-02
Updated: 2015-10-02
Packaged: 2018-04-24 09:49:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4914865
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KaelsMiscellany/pseuds/KaelsMiscellany
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As it pertains to Sankt's Alina and Aleksander.</p>
            </blockquote>





	On the Worship of Saints in Ravka

**Author's Note:**

> Hello Grisha fans! I return!
> 
> So this fic can firmly be blamed on [Sulienapgwien](http://sulienapgwien.tumblr.com/) and [Glitzandshadows](http://glitzandshadows.tumblr.com/) (mainly Glitz since it was her thing that started it.) (You can find my bits [here](http://whenwolfsbaneblooms.tumblr.com/tagged/On-Gods-and-Saints) (including some things not put in this fic).)
> 
> And as a warning it _is_ an odd sort of fic, despite the fact that I've listed certain characters they do not actually make any sort of appearance in this.

It is easy enough to tell who is a follower of Sankt Alina; in the peasantry those who worship her wear yellow or white headscarves, tiny suns can be found embroidered on their clothes, the more fanatical among them will go so far as to wear her mark on their cheeks, like her _Soldat_ once did.

Among the wealthy golden jewelry abounds, some finely wrought, some gaudy. Amber and sunstone and topaz and diamonds, all worn in service of worshiping her.

But it is among the Grisha where one finds most of her worshipers, but they are special to her so it is no true surprise. It is common to find golden suns stitched into _kefta_ , regardless of discipline. One can even find amplifiers carved into her shapes, if not direct copies of her own—antlers abound, though it's also common to see bone carved into feathers. On days of worship they flood her churches, uncaring of how others think of them, and sing of her; she who liberated them.

And her churches are sights to behold, soaring edifices topped with golden domes, intricately carved to tell those who enter her story. Her statues are lovingly carved, regardless of whether they are of stone or of wood; in the grand centers of wealth her priests rub gold dust into her cheeks, to symbolize the golden tears she cried over the injured Tsar—one of which now sits in the Tsar's crown—and at the horrible things done to her people during the Grisha war; proof, even then all say, that she was a Living Saint.

Most days, and even nights, light permeates her places of worship. Beautiful windows let colorful light in during those times when Alina watches over the earth; and at night fires and candles fill the space, beating back most of the shadows. But not all of them, all the better to remind her worshipers that she is not alone, nor is she Empress over All.

For the shadows and the night are the dominion of Sankt Aleksander.

In some ways it is harder to tell if one is a worshiper of him or not; after all the man all in black walking through the streets of Os Kervo may only be a Kerch merchant and not a follower if the Sankt's path.

But there are ways.

In most ways worship of him is virtually non-existent among peasants. Except perhaps to beg him to let them pass unscathed through his domain when there is no other choice but to travel through the night.

And among the nobles who are _otkazat'sya_ he is, in a way, feared. After all, did he no descend to the world to punish them when they persecuted his Grisha? _Otkazat'sya_ know that he will not answer their prayers.

So much like his opposite Sankt Alina he is beloved most by the Grisha. Sankt Alina may have been the one who liberated them all from the terror of the Shadow Fold—now only a tale to tell misbehaving children, _'do your work or the_ nichevo'ya _will come and gobble you up!'—_ but it was Sankt Aleksander who showed them how to live without fear of the _otkazat'sya_ , and what it meant to hold power.

Moonstones and opals, especially those that are naturally black, are common among his worshipers, as are posies, real or false, of nightshade or some night blooming flower.

He does not have churches the way Sankt Alina does, but there are statues of him wherever one finds Grisha, and during services to Sankt Alina he is spoken of—if only in metaphor and allusion, to speak his name outside of certain days is to draw unwelcome attention from him. But for most, being within a truly dark room is best when asking for his favors.

There are those who claim, that like Sankt Alina he was a Living Saint when he was among them. After all did he not do things that even Grisha cannot do? But that is a small faction in the whole of his worshipers, if one that is growing.

Nights and Days go as they do, the moon grows and shrinks—among those who know of The Hunter it is said that he is the one who carries Sankt Alina's gift through the night sky, and that on the nights when there is no moon to be seen, or when the moon is blackened, it is because Sankt Aleksander has managed to bar his course—and Balance is as it should be.

But then come the Eclipses.

It is on these days that Sankt Aleksander's name is spoken, beseeching him to spare Sankt Alina, to let Grisha and _otkazat'sya_ alike see her light once more upon them. But they also pray that Sankt Alina does not defeat him utterly, for who could live in unending light?

In the end though the darkness passes, returning the sun to them once more.

(Many now say that it is because Sankt Alina and Aleksander are not mortal enemies but lovers, doomed to be forever apart. The moon a gift as much to Sankt Aleksander as to the people of the world, to remind him of her when they cannot be together.

These are also the ones who say that every Eclipse a new star is born, a new child from the union of sun and darkness, and when the night comes they will rush out to look up and see if they can spot it. To do so is good luck)

Thus is the way the worship of the Saints has changed in Ravka since the Grisha war centuries ago. In fact, one is hard pressed to find signs of any Saint beyond Alina and Aleksander; most regulated to mere servants of either one, depending. So there are many who complain that Ravka has grown corrupt, that the faith they hold is not truly that of the Saints, but simply of Alina and Aleksander, the Sun and the Darkness. Though within Ravka itself you will find few who hold this view.

 

**Author's Note:**

> And there you have it.
> 
> If anyone's interested in using this as a sort of jumping off point for a fic you're welcome too, it's kind of why I wrote it in this 'scholarly' style, to be a sort of guideline on how religion in Ravka might have changed over time.


End file.
